RHINOS OF UGANDA – UGANDA SAFARIS

Rhinos are one of the Big five land animals alongside Lions, leopard, Elephant and Buffalo. They formed a great Uganda safari product during the 1960s however this was later reversed in 1970s with the rise of the dictatorial government of Idi Amin Dada. Due to their precious horns, Rhinos were hunted close to extinction in in 1970s and 1980s. In fact white Rhinos got extinct from Uganda as a result of uncontrolled poaching something that partly affected safaris to Uganda. The fate was later changed with the re-introduction of White Rhinos in 2005 in the gazetted Ziwa Rhino sanctuary as part of conservation efforts directed towards increasing safari visits to Uganda. White Rhinos in Ziwa sanctuary provide the Rhino tracking encounter on Uganda safari and are mostly visited en route to Murchison falls national park – the largest wildlife safari destination in Uganda. The Rhinos in Ziwa sanctuary are known by name and are being bred to be later released to wilderness. Rhinos are traditionally large in size with the capacity to weigh one complete tone. They have thick skin over 1.5 – 5 cm in layer, with averagely small brains over 400 – 600 g, a protruding horn and are herbivores. The two African rhino species do not have front teeth counting on their strong molar and premolar to crush up plant food. These species are interesting to encounter on Uganda wildlife safari or alongside gorilla tracking.